Fairness Alamance member denied county memo by attorney

County seal

By Chris Lavender / Times-News

Published: Thursday, October 17, 2013 at 04:29 PM.

Scott Zienty, a former Centro La Comunidad employee, has been denied access to a county memo that was sent to the commissioners highlighting his work with the U.S. Justice Department’s investigation into Sheriff Terry Johnson.

The DOJ complaint filed last December alleges that the Alamance County Sheriff’s Office routinely discriminates against and targets Latinos for enforcement action, in violation of the U.S. Constitution and Section 14141 of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994.

Johnson has denied any wrongdoing by his department and said his office does not engage in profiling of Spanish-speaking persons. A trial is set for July 7 with the discovery process nearly complete.

The memo in question was sent by County Attorney Clyde Albright to the county commissioners on Feb. 27.

Albright’s memo states that he had obtained a copy of Que Pasa, a Triad Spanish-language newspaper, and translated a recent article in which Zienty described the recent activities of the DOJ in
Alamance
County
.

“Mr. Zienty told the Que Pasa reporter that he was working with DOJ attorneys in
Alamance
County
for four days over the past two weeks to inform community leaders (Fairness Alamance) on the state of the lawsuit,” Albright’s memo stated.

Scott Zienty, a former Centro La Comunidad employee, has been denied access to a county memo that was sent to the commissioners highlighting his work with the U.S. Justice Department’s investigation into Sheriff Terry Johnson.

The DOJ complaint filed last December alleges that the Alamance County Sheriff’s Office routinely discriminates against and targets Latinos for enforcement action, in violation of the U.S. Constitution and Section 14141 of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994.

Johnson has denied any wrongdoing by his department and said his office does not engage in profiling of Spanish-speaking persons. A trial is set for July 7 with the discovery process nearly complete.

The memo in question was sent by County Attorney Clyde Albright to the county commissioners on Feb. 27.

Albright’s memo states that he had obtained a copy of Que Pasa, a Triad Spanish-language newspaper, and translated a recent article in which Zienty described the recent activities of the DOJ in AlamanceCounty.

“Mr. Zienty told the Que Pasa reporter that he was working with DOJ attorneys in AlamanceCounty for four days over the past two weeks to inform community leaders (Fairness Alamance) on the state of the lawsuit,” Albright’s memo stated.

Zienty said Monday he requested the memo to determine whether it would fall into a category of intimidation by the county against him. Zienty said he read about the memo in a previous Times-News report but later realized he didn’t know what else might be contained in the memo.

Zienty said since he was singled out by name in the memo he should have access to it and made a public records request to County Manager Craig Honeycutt on Oct. 12.

“I would like to make a public records request regarding a memo from County Attorney Albright sent to the commissioners between February 18 and March 1 of this year,” Zienty’s email stated.

Honeycutt forwarded Zienty’s request to Albright and sent this reply on Oct. 14:

“I forwarded your request to our CountyAttorney, and he stated that the memo was attorney-client privilege, and was exempt from the public records law. Therefore, we cannot honor your request,” Honeycutt’s email stated.

Albright said on Monday that Zienty was denied his request because the memo is “not a public record.” Zienty questioned why the memo was provided to the Times-News if it was not a public record.

Zienty is a member of Fairness Alamance who met with the DOJ during the first week of February in a small group setting. The DOJ provided Fairness Alamance with an update on the lawsuit proceedings at that time.

Zienty worked as a family support specialist with Centro La Comunidad from September 2011 to August 2013. Zienty is currently an AmeriCorps volunteer.

The county commissioners denied Zienty’s nomination to the Human Relations Council in March after pulling his name from the meeting’s consent agenda. Zienty said at that time he believed the decision not to appoint him was made because of his close ties to the Latino community and work with Centro La Comunidad.

Zienty remains active in supporting immigrant issues. He attended on Sept. 17 the Champions of Change ceremony at the White House complex. The event recognized 10 leaders from across the nation including two from North Carolina who have worked to help immigrants integrate successfully into neighborhoods nationwide.

Zienty was invited to Washington to be part of the audience to listen to a panel discussion. The discussion provided information on what programs are being used across the nation to help immigrants integrate into their new communities, Zienty said.

Zienty said integration should be a “two-way street” and that “bridging relationships” are necessary to allow immigrants to integrate successfully.